Lindsay Park legend Mr Brightside will look to maintain a perfect record in an early-season Group 1 race at Flemington.
Mr Brightside has run in the Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m), run at Flemington on Saturday, for the past three years, posting wins on each occasion.
In his first victory he defeated Alligator Blood before running down Pride Of Jenni in 2024 and last year defeating Aeliana.
Behind Mr Brightside in his last two victories has been Via Sistina, who would go on to capture the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley the following month.
In Mr Brightside’s favour in his three victories have been small fields where the now nine-year-old has been able to ride the speed.
And last year he crawled up front, running 1:38.75 and sprinting home the last 600m in 32.66 seconds.
This year’s field is in double digits with 13 acceptors, but Mr Brightside has drawn ideally in gate two and, with regular rider Craig Williams switching to Sir Delius, Blake Shinn takes the ride.
Mr Brightside’s strength has been his longevity, with 20 wins from 49 starts and a shade over $19 million in prize money.
And he has largely been injury-free, although a small bone chip in a fetlock kept the gelding from the track earlier in the year.
It allowed Mr Brightside a longer than normal spell and a solid build-up for his return run.
J D Hayes, who trains the gelding in partnership with his brothers Ben and Will, described Mr Brightside as a ‘freak’ after his first-up second to Beiwacht in the Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on August 29.
“He’s never let us down,” Hayes said.
“He’s a freak and nothing surprises you when it comes to him.
“He was there at the top of the straight, he was vulnerable to the opposition, but he fought like a tiger and held on for second.
“The way it was looking he was going to run fourth, or fifth, we felt, but he dug deep and showed he is a true champion, but the winner was too good.”
Being his first outing for the year, Hayes said Mr Brightside had taken considerable improvement from his Memsie run.
“He’s improved, physically, as you would expect out of it after a long time off,” Hayes said.
“He’s tightened up beautifully and the Flemington mile, plus if there was any rain, it would be great.”
